Farmers suffering from the drought will again get a helping hand from the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority following an extension of its Drought Employment Program.

The program aims to provide fulltime work for farmers and utilise their skills in a range of environmental work.

Last week farmers enrolled in the program gathered at The Safety Factory in Melbourne Rd for induction and to receive training and safety gear.

Training will run for a week, while the program itself will start on January 24.

It is set to run until June 30.

Echuca dairy farmer and milk deliverer Craig Ash welcomed the $2.7 million program.

"It'll help us out," Mr Ash said.

Mr Ash said he was unsuccessful at finding other work.

"This is the next best thing," he said.

"It's been a hard 10 years with the drought and every day is a challenge, but we just take each day as it comes."

The Factory general manager Jim Crawshaw was also optimistic about the program.

"It's right down our alley as far as safety and risk management training goes," Mr Crawshaw said.

"It's a good thing for us because it's projecting the basis of our business into a lot of important areas."

River Health team leader Richard Warburton said this year's program had been as successful as last year.

"The program commences this week with 64 participants, and we'll get that up to about 70 to 75 by next week, across the catchment," Mr Warburton said.

For more details, visit www.gbcma.vic.gov.au

chloewarburton@sheppnews.com.au